Railers claim two titles at TOC

It’s been a long time since the Newton High School wrestling team claimed an individual title at the Newton Invitational Tournament of Champions. Saturday, that string was broken as the Railers claimed two titles en route to a third-place finish in the 27-team tournament. Newton’s team finish exceeded last year’s by a place and was the Railers’ highest in decades. “It’s been a few years now,” Newton coach Jude Wilson said of the Railers’ last TOC title. “I don’t know exactly how long. Maybe the early 2000s. Anytime you can come away with one, you have to feel good. To get two of them is great. We did well to get the third spot. ... We had a lot of hard-fought matches. It shows how hard these kids worked. There were some definite bright spots out there today.” Newton’s second title of the day came at 195 pounds, where senior Dillon Archer met top-ranked Chase Reis of Grand Island (Neb.). Archer posted a quick takedown, but gave up the escape. Reis then scored a takedown and Archer escaped, tying the match 3-3 after the first period. In the second period, Reis escaped and scored a takedown, but Archer posted a late reversal and trailed 6-5 at the end of the period. Archer scored an escape in the third period to again tie the match. Reis blocked several late shots by Archer to send the match into overtime. Reis nearly got a takedown late in overtime, but Archer was able to counter the shot and get the takedown with eight seconds remaining for the 8-6 win. “I just wanted to wrestle my best and enjoy it,” Archer said. “I’m always striving to get better, even in my losses. I’ve never seen him before. I knew he would be tough, so I thought why not go and knock him off. Setting the tone is always important. Some guys are always going to come back, but I was glad to have some points to work with. I didn’t need any major comebacks. I just had to keep working and take control of the match. He’s a tough kid with a tough defense. He knew what I was going to try and do. He wasn’t going to tie up with me. He was trying to keep a fast pace. I was trying to keep a fast pace too.” “That’s one of the top matches I’ve ever seen in this tournament,” Wilson said. “It was exciting. To be able to come out and finish up like that was great.” Archer improves to 18-0 for the season. “This is just like any other match,” Archer said. “I just want to try and continue to make improvements as the year goes on.” At 170 pounds, Newton sophomore Jared Langley met top-ranked (Class 6A) Alan Clothier of Lawrence. Langley led 4-1 after the first period, increasing his lead to 8-2. Clothier fought back to get within two points, but a late Langley reversal with back points gave him a 12-6 win. Langley improves to 17-4 for the season. “It felt good,” Langley said. “I just tried to get more points and keep scoring. I got in a little bit (of trouble) but not enough that I had to worry about the match. I know I’m one of the first guys in a long time to win at the TOC. This boosts my confidence a lot. Now I want to win some more tournaments. I’ve got a lot of seconds this year. The crowd was great. They got me into this.” At 220 pounds, Raymond Gallegos started the day in the consolation semifinals against Anthony Fitchett of Blue Valley Southwest. Tied 0-0 late in the second period, Gallegos scored the pin. In the consolation finals, the match was tied 0-0 against Jesse Colver of Leavenworth. In the third period, Colver scored an escape and a penalty point for a 2-0 win. At 126 pounds, Quinton Harrison won his first two matches of the day to reach the consolation semifinals. He lost a 3-1 decision to Matt Bolan, who was ranked third in Nebraska. In the fifth-place match, Harrison scored the first takedown against Dallas Vesta of Manhattan. Harrison added a takedown in the third period to lead 5-1, but held on for a 5-4 win. At 160 pounds, Heydon Mock opened with a pair of wins, then lost in the consolation semifinals to Zach Finch of Garden City 4-0. In the fifth-place match, Mock won by injury default in the second period against Quade Woofter of Colby. The score was tied when the match was abandoned. At heavyweight, Garrett Lee started the day in the consolation semifinals against Juan Medina of Grand Island, taking an 8-3 lead early in the second period. He was then turned and pinned. In the fifth-place match, Lee rebounded with a pin in 1:36 against Montana Fuller of Garden City. At 132 pounds, Anthony Monares won his first two matches to clinch a medal. In the consolation semifinals, he faced top-ranked (Class 3-2-1A) John Reiswick of Norton. Monares appeared to pin Reiswick at the end of the first period, but the referee ruled it came after time expired and gave Monares three back points to go with the takedown. After a scoreless second period. Monares gave up two back points early in the third period. Still leading 5-3, he was pinned with nine seconds left in the match. In the fifth-place match, Monares jumped out 5-3 against Kevin Kissane of Maize South, but was injured in the second period and had to default. At 152 pounds, Peter Nelson finished the day 1-1, one win shy of a medal. Nelson fell in the fourth consolation round to Wyatt Villars of Arkansas City in a 15-7 major decision. Down 9-0 after two periods, Nelson scored three takedowns in the third, but gave up a takedown in the final seconds. At 182 pounds, Noah Ornelas finished the day 1-1, one win short of a medal. In the fourth consolation round, Ornelas fell to Sage Eckman of Emporia 2-1 in overtime. Ornelas was charged with a penalty point in overtime to drop the match. At 113 pounds, Newton’s Eliseo Torres fell to Tyler Irwin of Salina South in the third consolation round. Newton had a tough week this week with a dual meet at 6 p.m. Thursday at home against Maize, followed by the Blue Valley Northwest Invitational Friday and Saturday. “We’ll try to rest as much as we can,” Wilson said. “We’ll try to work on some things to get better. We’ll keep plugging along this season.”